Vania



UNITED STATES PATENT Grinch.

ERNEST J. FISCHER, OF PHILADELPHIA, ASSIGNOR OF TlVO-THIRDS TO JOHN G. BOYVER AND FRANCIS H. MILLER, BOTH OF 'WATSONTOlVN, PENNSYL- VANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 412,080, dated October 1, 1889. Application filed July 17, 1888. Serial No. 280,222. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST J. FISCHER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Cleaning Animal-Hair; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,

to such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the art of cleaning animal hair or wool to prepare it for use in I 5 the industrial arts.

It is well known that hair and wool are of tubular structure, the tubular cavity serving as a duct for an oily substance supplied by the animal to keep the wool soft and pliable.

When the wool is removed from an animal, the oil within this tubular cavity or duct dries and becomes. hard, thus forming a pith or marrow, which is not removed by any of the cleansing processes usually practiced, and

2 5 this oily or fattysubstance or impurity within the cavity of the wool imparts color to the wool after cleansing, and also prevents its thorough impregnation with dyes.

The processes heretofore employed for 0 cleansing hair and wool only serve to free the material under treatment from the natural surface coating or yolk and foreign matters adhering to the surface, any long*continned soaking or saturating of the material having been avoided as deleterious.

The object of my invention, broadly stated, is to free the inner tubular cavity of the hair or wool treated from foreign-or non-fibrous particles or impurities, thus obtaining a pro duct distinguishable from the unbleached products of other processes by its whiteness, luster, transparency, softness of texture, and capability of absorbing a greater quantity of dye owing to the extraction of fatty matter 5 from the tubular cavity.

The novel features of my invention will be recited in the claims at the close of the following description. A water tight vat or trough, of any suitable or preferred size and shape, is provided atbottom with a dischargeopening normally closed by a plug or cook, and above this discharge-opening with a per forated false bottom of some non-corrosive material. I arrange within this vat or trough a quantity of hair or wool to be cleansed, care being taken not to crowd or pack the wool, and then run in sufficient clear water (either cool or lukewarm) to completely cover the material under treatment. This charge of water is allowed to remain in the trough or vat twenty-four hours, and is then drawn off through the discharge opening below the false bottom, said false bottom serving to prevent the loss of any of the material under treatment, though permitting the passage of any 6 5 impurities that have been removed from the surface of said material. Another charge of clear water is then run in the vat and allowed to stand about the same length of time as the first charge, and this changing of the,charges 7c of water is continued for thirty days, or there= about, the material having become by its con tinned submersion very soft and somewhat water-soaked. When the material under treatmenthas attained this condition, it will 7 5 be found that the dried oil or fatty matter contained in the tubular cavities of the hair has become sufficiently soft for removal by a subsequent treatment. The last charge of water should now be drawn off and a satu- 89 rated solution of sal-soda or any other saponifiable substance substituted, the material be ing allowed to remain in this solution for about a week, more or less, until the fatty pith or marrow within the tubular cavities of the hair is taken up by the solution, which may be determined by those skilled from the fact that the liquid of the bath takes the color of the matter removed from the cavity of the hair. During this step of the process 90 it may be necessary to enrich the solution by the addition of salsoda or other ingredient used. The material is now thoroughly washed in clear water to free it from any chemical absorbed during the last step of the treat- 9 5 ment and then dried for use, as the surface impurities were removed early in the clear water stage of treatment. The drying process may be hastened by first passing the material through a wringer, as is sometimes roe Material treated by my process when compared with material of the same grade treated by other processes known to me is distinguishable for its soft fine texture, light weight, whiteness, and silky luster, and, owing to the removal of the fatty matter from the tubular cavity, it can be more thoroughly impregnated with dyes.

the same forms the subject-matter of a separate application for Letters Patent filed August 31-, 1889, Serial No. 322,619.

1. The process of treating hair or wool to remove the oilymatter from the tubularcavities, consisting of a long-continuedsoaking of the material in clear water until said oily matterbecomes softened, then soaking the material so treated in a saponifiable solution to extract said oily matter, then washing in clear water, and finally drying, substantially as described,

2. The process of treating hair or wool to remove the oily matter from the tub=u1arcavities, consisting of a long-continued soaking of the material in successive charges of clear water until it becomes quite soft and somewhat water-soaked, then soaking the material in a saponifiable solution to extract said I oily matter from the cavities, then thoroughly I do not herein make special claim to the new product resulting from my process, as

washing in clear water, and finallydrying, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 40 in presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST J. FlSCHER.

Vitnesses: I

WM. WAGNER, Jr Enw. F. Zrnennn. 

